Вил Мирзаянов - State Secrets - An Insider's Chronicle of the Russian Chemical Weapons Program

Mr. Mirzayanov will be tried for disclosing information about Russian chemical weapons production. These charges are based upon a law that did not exist at the time he wrote the article. He is charged with a violation of resolution # 256-16 of March 30, 1993. Under that provision the Council of Ministers made changes to the “Temporary List of Categories of Data Considered State Secrets,” which was adopted by the Government of the Russian Federation on September 18, 1992 in resolution # 733-55.

Hence, the law is being applied retroactively, denying Mr. Mirzayanov the basic right to be notified and adequately informed of the charges against him. Article 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Russia is a signatory, states that: “No one shall be held guilty of a criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed.”

Ex post fact prosecution is also prohibited by Article 15 of the Russian Constitution. In paragraph 3 stated that, “Unpublished laws shall not be applicable.” Additionally, Article 54, paragraph 1 of the new Constitution stated: “The law instituting or aggravating the liability of a person shall have no retroactive force.”

We are disturbed to learn of the Russian government’s intention to hold a secret trial closed to all observers. Secret proceedings are inherently inconsistent with the open democratic society Russia is ostensibly committed to building. We request therefore that the Russian government permit independent Russian and international observers to attend the trial.

Mr. Mirzayanov’s case is an important test of the Russian government’s commitment to respect human rights and build just legal institutions. We urge you to ensure that the courts act as a truly independent branch of government, according to the rule of law and free from government pressure.

Sincerely,

Michael Posner

Executive director

Letter of the Physicians for Social Responsibility to the Alexsei Kazannik, General Procurator of the Russian Federation. January 21, 1994

Dear Procurator General,

I understand that the closed trial of Dr. Vil Mirzayanov is scheduled to begin on Monday, 24 January in Moscow City Court.

During my visit to your country last year, I was fortunate to be able to meet with Dr. Mirzayanov and we had a number of long talks together. At the time I made his acquaintance, I was very impressed by his sincerity, his integrity and his strong love of his country. It was not selfish motivation, but Dr. Mirzayanov’s deep patriotism and his true concern for the welfare of his fellow Muscovites that prompted him to act, to try to draw attention to and to correct environment environmentally dangerous practices of his institute and the chemical-military complex. I personally feel a strong common bond with this courageous man, recognizing that his motives are the same as those that led me to release the Pentagon Papers.

Fortunately for all of us, we are living in different times now, the beginning of a post-Cold War Era. We must recognize however, that for the arms control agreements we are forging to have any real meaning, it is essential that they be verifiable by citizens. In Stalinist times, Dr. Mirzayanov would have been considered an enemy of the state. Now he should be recognized for what he is, a pioneer in creating a new, needed international norm of citizen responsibility, a man on the cutting edge of reform and democracy in your country. Silencing Mirzayanov and others like him will not help your country solve environmental problems or reduce the threat posed by chemical accidents that could happen at any time. Silencing them will serve to reduce the world’s confidence in Russia’s stated intentions to comply with international accords. And it will reduce Russian citizen’s confidence in their government’s ability to change or be honest about mistakes of the past which directly threatened the lives of many people.

One of your officials has mentioned to some people in our country that the Mirzayanov trial is a small thing, something of little importance. Instead, I think you will find that the Mirzayanov case is of critical importance to us, at the center of much that we value and honor most in our culture – freedom of speech, the of the scientist to disclose information to prevent a greater danger, the official who recognizes a loyalty to the constitution and to his countrymen that is more important than the rules of his agency, the ecologist against the polluters, anyone who rallies against weapons of mass destruction, a man who has exposed the corruption and incompetence of more powerful people.

The Mirzayanov case is an immediate legal litmus test of emerging Russian democracy. He is an individual in the true tradition of Andrei Sakharov, a man persecuted under the former regime for telling the truth, but now, rightfully, universally honored. I urge you to take the high road and use your authority to have the case dismissed immediately. There a number of statutes of the new Russian Constitution that can be referenced as grounds for dismissal. Furthermore, I would urge you to call for an intensive investigation by your office into the allegations Dr. Mirzayanov and others have made about secret chemical weapons programs and unsafe practices in the chemical military.

With respect,

Daniel Ellsberg

Letter of the American Physical Society to the President of Russia, Boris Nikoloyevich Yeltsin.

January 24, 1994

Dear President Yeltsin:

The Committee on the International Freedom of Scientists (CIFS) at the American Physical Society, a 43,000 member organization of physicists, is charged with monitoring the human rights situation of physicists and other scientists around the world, and advocating for those requiring assistance.

It has come to our attention that Dr. Vil Mirzayanov, a Russian chemist who publicized information concerning production of binary nerve gases in the Moscow vicinity, will be brought to trial on criminal charges concerning this publicity on January 26, 1994. Further, it is our understanding that Dr. Mirzayanov’s trial will not be open to foreign observers.

It is troubling that Dr. Mirzayanov will be brought to trial for acting in accordance with at least two international treaties to which the Russian Federation is a signatory nation, the Convention on Chemical Disarmament and the Declaration on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which both specifically prohibit chemical weapons production. We respectfully request that Dr. Mirzayanov’s trial be open to international observers and that the charges against him be dropped.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your reply.

Sincerely yours,

Fang Lizhi,

Chair

Committee on the International Freedom of Scientists

The Extract from the Congressional Record – Senate. (February 1, 1994. S.S.543-544). Library of Congress . http: //thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin

Mr. DeConcini: Mr. President, I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues today a closed trial that opened in Moscow last Monday, January 24. A Russian scientist named Vil Mirzayanov is being tried on charges of exposing state secrets.

As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I most assuredly believe a nation has a right to preserve certain secrets related to national security. But let’s look at the particulars of this case.

Dr. Mirzayanov is a Moscow scientist and chemist who in 1992, on the basis of his work in a secret laboratory in Moscow, disclosed in the Russian and Western press that Russia was continuing to test chemical weapons despite having signed international agreements banning such tests. Subsequently, Dr. Mirzayanov was arrested and briefly held in custody in October 1992. He was then kept under house arrest until January 24, 1994, when his trial convened.